Mr. Tenopir's Blog Address Has Changed!

Due to formatting issues within Blogger, the original host of my blog, I have decided to migrate content to a new host, WordPress.

The new blog address is https://fremdprincipal.wordpress.com/.

Feel free to click on the "Follow" button on the new site to be among the first to receive new content!

The "Where's Your Spirit?" Edition

Supporting the D211 Foundation

The challenge is on!

The Township High School District 211 Foundation has dared all D211 schools to participate
in the "Where's Your Spirit?" Challenge to prove that school spirit can be found everywhere!
ANYONE with a D211 connection is encouraged to rally in this effort!

Simply take a picture or make a quick video to show school spirit. Wear a high school T-shirt
on the beach, or at a basketball game. Hold up a spirit sign on Spring Break, or just put on an
old letter jacket! The possibilities are ENDLESS! Tag others and challenge them to do the
same, in support of YOUR high school! Create a chain reaction!

Please support the D211 Foundation's fundraising effort. The D211 Foundation provides
resources to enhance and enrich learning opportunities for the students, staff, and school
community of High School District 211 through Innovation Grant opportunities, and they are
instrumental in helping homeless students in D211.

Join us in this inaugural fundraiser & show your High School's PRIDE! Contest ends
MAY 1st, so challenge early & often!

To show everyone that your high school has the most spirit in District 211, just follow these
3 easy steps:

1.      Donate $10 (or more) at D211foundation.org

2.      Post pictures/videos on Facebook and/or Instagram (click PUBLIC on your Facebook
page), then write @D211Foundation & #wheresyourspirit211 at the end of your post

3.      Tag several friends, challenge them to "accept the challenge" and continue the chain
reaction!

Donate once, Post and Challenge often!

Questions? Please contact Patti Meihls (D211 Foundation) at timmeihls@aol.com

Highlights and Successes:

• Congratulations to the Fremd Debate Team on their success at the 2018 IHSA State Debate Tournament in Springfield. Fremd Debaters garnered 18 medal awards, surpassing last year’s school record and more than any of the 50 schools in attendance. Fremd was also the only school with debaters in more than one final round in the four Debate events offered—it was in three.  Lincoln-Douglas Division:  Andrew Ruan, State Runner-up (2nd Place) and All State, Kashif Javid, Semifinalist:  Public Forum Division: Piyush Biswas & Matthew Grabianski, State Runners-up (2nd Place) and All-State, Matthew Grabianski, Captain (Top Speaker), All State Debate Team, Michael Murakami & Benjamin Wilson, Quarterfinalists, Abhinav Balu & Adhith Palla, Octofinalists and All-State, Jesse Huang & Edward Li, Octofinalists:  Congressional Division: Shreya Mukherjee, Finalist and All-State, Swathy Karthikeyan, Finalist, Aditya Prathap, Finalist, Shruthi Kumar, All-State, Asad Ukani, All-State, Arash Abbas, Best Legislation
• Congratulations to Coach Nick Mamula and the Boys Lacrosse Team on winning the inaugural Fremd High School Varsity Boys Lacrosse Invitational.  The team defeated Marian Central, Nazareth Academy, and Montini.
• Congratulations to Coach Marilyn Berdick and Coach Judy Klingner on being Sectional Champions for Contest Play and 3rd place for Group Interpretation and for qualifying for State.
• Congratulations to the following Viking Pride winners: March 16th:  Hannah Adolphsen, Olivia Calas, Alyson David, Cato Everhardt, Evan Folkers, Alexandra Jusi, Jessica Li, Kyle Morin, Mary Poss, Ayushi Tripathi, Chihiro Watanabe and Samantha West; March 23rd:  Emmanuel Buabeng, Daniela Cisneros, Yesenia Cruz, Zachary Garneister, Tobie George, Leo Joerger, Sophia Kueh, Katharine Larson, Angela Ma, Lindsey Mega, Hyemin Oh, Britney Ordaz, Abril Salazar, Aliyah Starks and Angelina Zheng.
• Correction from previous Highlights: Congratulations to Coach Chris Grattoni and the Fremd Math Team on their 1st place finish at Regionals and a score of 898 which is Fremd’s highest Regional score in history!  Junior-Senior 8 Person: State Qualifying Team Maegan Jong, Kevin Li, Flora Zheng, Aksel Balkir, Jesse Huang, Ed Li, Hannah Chen, and Elizabeth Perez.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

March 23-April 2	Spring Break
March 24	Fremd Baseball Double Header @ Grand Park Westfield, IN - 9:00 a.m. Boys LaCrosse @ Paal Fields, Columbus, IN - 5:00 p.m. Boys Gymnastics Invitational @ RMHS - 6:00 p.m.
March 25	Boys LaCrosse @ Paal Fields, Columbus, IN - 9:00 a.m. Fremd Baseball Double Header @ Grand Park Westfield, IN - 9:00 a.m.
March 27	Fremd Baseball Double Header @ South Elgin H.S. - 11:00 a.m.
March 28	Fremd Baseball vs. St. CHarles East @ Heritage Park - 12:30 p.m.
March 31	Boys Tennis Invitational @ Jacobs H.S. - 10:00 a.m.

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page or the Athletic Department Blog.

Ask the Principal

Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at
ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the
next blog post.

The Vape Edition

Vapin’ in the Boys Room

In 1973, Brownsville Station perfectly captured the image of the teenage rebel in their hit song, Smokin’ in the Boys Room. Suffering from a rough day, a group of boys sneaks into the 2nd floor bathroom to smoke cigarettes and make the world right again.

Collection of some popular vape models found at FHS.

Fast forward to 2018. Gone are the days of designated smoking areas in schools. Gone are the days of smoke-filled bathrooms. In their place is a tiny electronic device filled with flavored liquids that are vaporized when the user inhales the juice. Teenage rebel no more, vape users are defying the antiquated image of nicotine addict.

Here’s the skinny on vape use at Fremd High School:

• Vaping incidents rank #5 at our school for most common disciplinary infraction. Two years ago, vapes were barely on our radar.
• Students have been caught in the act of vaping or in possession of a vaporizer 58 times so far this school year. Two years ago, there were only 19 incidents involving tobacco (vapes or cigarettes combined) for the whole year.
• Vaping as a trend crosses age groups (freshmen are just as likely as seniors to vape), race and income level.
• 12% of students caught vaping have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. 78% have at least a 2.0 GPA. 

So what’s the big deal?

• While no definitive research is available--the first generation of vaping is just now taking up the habit--signs are starting to point to the health risks that one would assume results from inhaling chemicals into your body that weren’t meant to be inhaled.
• This article mentions how teens are developing a smoker’s cough and chronic bronchitis. It also mentions that there are toxic metals in vape juice that lead to cancer.
• This article talks about how vaping foreign chemicals messes with your immune system, which swoops in to fight unknown substances.
• This article notes that vapes and e-cigarettes still contain formaldahyde (carcinogen), lead (neurotoxin) and silicate particles (lung disease), not to mention nicotine, which is a drug!

What should you do?

• I’m always a fan of having a direct conversation with your teen. Find out if they have ever tried it. Find out if their friends have tried it. Make sure they have considered the possible long-term ramifications of vaping. Make sure they know that vaping is against school rules and the athletic code.
• Keep your eyes open in your house for unknown electronic devices of all shapes and sizes. Juul seems to be the hot brand right now. Their devices are very discreet and could pass for a USB storage device. We have also confiscated vaping devices that look like Zippo lighters and pens and markers. In some cases, parents have reported to us that a suspicious charging device should have tipped them off that their student was up to something.
• Proactively research what vapes look like. A simple internet image search will show you the wide variety of styles that are out there.
• Do your own research about the health hazards of vaping. Right now, vaping does not hold the same stigma as smoking cigarettes, but it should. There’s no reason for your teen to pick up this habit. 

Highlights and Successes:

• Congratulations to the Fremd Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band, and Jazz Combo for their success at the Rolling Meadows HS “Jazz in the Meadows” Festival.  The Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo were both awarded straight “Division 1/Superior” ratings from the three collegiate jazz band adjudicators in their respected divisions.  The Jazz Ensemble was also awarded third place in the competitive 4A Division (largest school). The Jazz Lab Band (non-competitive division) also had an outstanding performance and received an excellent educational clinic from three collegiate jazz band directors.  The Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab Band are co-directed by Matt Moore and JT Teichert, the Jazz Combo is directed by JT Teichert.
• Congratulations to Kevin Chen, Kristina Chen, Maegan Jong, Ed Li, Kevin Li, Anthony Mu, Kinllen Peng, and Flora Zheng for qualifying to take the AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination). Students must score in the top 5% of all AMC 10/12 Math Contest participants to qualify to take the AIME. The following students were recognized by the MAA with the highest score in the school on the AMC exam: Kristina Chen (AMC 12A, 112.5), Kevin Chen (AMC 12B, 109.5), Stella Chung (AMC 10B, 99.0), Anthony Mu (AMC 12B, 109.5), and Kinllen Peng (AMC 10A, 145.5). The AIME is being administered on Tuesday, March 6th.
• Congratulations to Fremd junior, Maegan Jong, on receiving the Prudential Spirit of Community’s Certificate of Excellence and the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her outstanding volunteer service. The Certificate of Excellence is granted to the top 10 percent of all Prudential Spirit of Community nominees.
• Congratulations to Coach Bob Widlowski and the Boys Basketball Team on winning the Regional Championship!
• Congratulations to the Scholastic Bowl team for placing 4th  in the Masonic State Tournament in Bloomington last Saturday. And additionally, the team won the IHSA Regional on Monday night, advancing to the Sectional this Saturday.
• Congratulations to Yoonseo Kim and Shreya Mukherjee on achieving a perfect score on the ACT exam.

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page or the Athletic Department Blog.

Staff Spotlight

Name: Brian C Newby        

Position:  Physical Education / Driver’s Education Teacher

Years at Fremd:  21 years

Life Before Fremd: Professional Student

Hobbies/Interests: Pickleball, visiting tropical places like Florida and Hawaii, Scuba Diving

Insider Tip for Parents: I would say remember what it was to be a high school student when you were there.  Academics are important but the after-school clubs, activities, and athletics help shape the people we are.  Having an outlet to have fun, be challenged intellectually (like Chess club), artistically (like woods club or photo club) or athletically are important.  These are the four years that help us become what we hope the good hard-working individuals in society for our future.

Ask the Principal

Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the next blog post.

Just the Highlights Edition

Highlights and Successes:

• Congratulations to Coach Chris Grattoni and the Fremd Math Team on their 1st place finish at Regionals and a score of 898 which is Fremd’s highest Regional score in history!  Award winners include:  Algebra 1 Individual - 1st place Stella Chung,  4th place Anshul Kaushik,  3rd place Alex Hu,  2nd place Angelina Zheng; Algebra 1 Team: 1st place Stella Chung, Gabriel Classon, Alex Hu anshul Kaushik, shoya Yamazaki and Angelina Zheng; Geometry Team: 1st place Alice Chen, Eileen Peng, Kinllen Peng, Sean Randunne, Nipun Velupally and Sharon Wu; Geometry Individual: 1st place Kinllen Peng, 5th place Nipun Velupally and 4th place Alice Chen; Algebra 2 Individual: State Qualifier Hannah chen, State Qualifier Anthony Mu, 4th place Kristina Chen, 4th place Kevin Li and 4th place Flora Zheng; Algebra 2 Team: 1st place Hannah Chen, Kristina Chen, Kevin Li, Anthony Mu, Michael Murakami and Flora Zheng; Precalculus Individual:  1st place Ed Li, 3rd place Kevin Chen; Precalculus Team: 1st place Aksel Balkir, Kevin Chen, Rose Dinh, Jessie Huang, Ed Li, and Elizabeth Perez; Calculator Team: 2nd place Gabriel Classon, Nipun Velupally, Anthony Mu, Rose Dinh and Kevin Chen; Frosh-Soph 8 Person: 1st place Stella Chung, Alex Hu, Shoya Yamazaki, Angelina Zheng, Alice Chen, Eileen Peng, Kinllen Peng and Sharon Wu; Junior-Senior 8 Person: State Qualifying Team Maegan Jong, Kevin Li, Flora Zheng, Aksel Balkir, Jesse Huang, Ed Li and Elizabeth Perez; Frosh-Soph 2 Person: 1st place Stella Chung and Kinllen Peng; Junior-Senior 2 Person: 2nd place Kristina Chen and Kevin Li.
• Congratulations to both the Frosh-Soph and Varsity Scholastic Bowl teams for winning the MSL last Thursday. The Frosh-Soph defeated Buffalo Grove and the Varsity defeated Hersey.
• The Fremd Robotics Team placed 4th at the 9th annual District #214 Robot Rumble on February 23rd and 24th.  Over 40 robots from 15 different schools including three colleges competed for the 2018 Robot Rumble championship.
• Fremd High School was just named as a PLTW Distinguished School.  We are one of 10 schools in the state and one of only 133 nationally that received this recognition.  
• Congratulations to the Fremd Chess Team on their record 8th place finish at the 2018 IHSA State Chess Tournament! This represents the highest finish ever in the school’s history, breaking last year’s record-setting 12th place finish. The highlight of the tournament includes holding New Trier (seed #5) to a 34-34 draw in the final round. The team was led by senior captain Tim Moran, who won an individual top-10 medal on Board 3.
• Congratulations to Coach Bob Widlowski and the Boys Basketball Team on their 1st round playoff win against Buffalo Grove.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

March 2	Girls State Basketball @ ISU Redbird Arena Boys Track & Field Invitational @ Homewood-Flossmoor H.S. - 4:30 pm Boys Regional Basketball @ Buffalo Grove H.S. - 7:00 p.m.
March 3	Operation Snowball Girls State Basketball @ ISU Redbird Arena Girls Track & Field Invitational @ Proviso West H.S. - 9:00 a.m. Boys Gymnastics Invitational @ Glenbard West H.S.- 10:00 a.m. Boys Track & Field Invitational @ Rolling Meadows H.S. - 4:30 p.m.
March 5	Winter Sports Awards - 7:00 p.m.
March 6	Late Start - 8:50 a.m. start time Choral Classics Concert - cafe, 7:30 p.m. Boys Basketball Sectionals  @ lake Zurich H.S. - 7:30 p.m.
March 7	Boys Water Polo vs. Hersey H.S. @ FHS - 5:45 p.m. Girls Water Polo vs. Hersey H.S. @ Prospect H.S. - 5:45 p.m.
March 8	Boys Gymnastics @ Barrington H.S. - 6:00 p.m.

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page or the Athletic Department Blog.

Ask the Principal

Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the next blog post.

February 23 Edition

Call for Cookies!

The Fremd Viking Booster Club is proud of all our student-athletes and want to remind you of the upcoming Winter Sports Awards Night on Monday, March 5th at 7:00 pm in the main gym. As with every Sports Awards, the Booster Club is organizing the cookie / snack drive.  Please consider signing up to bring in cookies for a post event snack.  You can drop them off at the tables in the main hallway on your way into the ceremony.

We have many student-athletes this fall and we will need well over 100 dozen cookies to have enough for the kids and their families. 

Please sign up for the Winter Sports Awards Cookie Signup!

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on Volunteer Spot: http://signup.com/login/entry/217010068236520020  

2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot)

3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy! 

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone.

Highlights and Successes:

• Congratulations to Coach Kristen Newby and the Fremd Boys Swimming and Diving Team on winning  2nd at Sectionals   Award winners and State Qualifiers include:  1st place 1 Meter Diving – Zach Mega (state qualifier); 5th place 1 Meter Diving – Christian Zukowski (state qualifier); 3rd place Medley Relay – Evan Stegall, Alex Schillinger, Yoochan Lee, Danny Konishi (state qualifier); 2nd place 200 IM – Alex Schillinger (state qualifier); 4th place 100 Fly – Evan Stegall; 4th place 100 Free – Danny Konishi; 6th place 100 Free – Yoochan Lee; 4th place 200 Free Relay – Yoochan Lee, Alex Reed, Evan Stegall, Danny Konishi (state qualifier); 2nd place 100 Back – Evan Stegall (state qualifier); 1st place 100 Breast – Alex Schillinger (state qualifier); and 3rd place 400 Free Relay – Yoochan Lee, Alex Reed, Alex Schillinger, Danny Konishi.
• Congrats to Soundscape Showchoir on a great start to their competition season!  On Saturday, they made the top 6 of the day and performed again for finals for the first time ever.   In the past 3 competitions, they have earned a caption award for best opener along with best female soloist Mary Kate Baughman and outstanding performers Holden Meier and Allison Nakazawa.  Come see us at Hersey on Saturday, March 3 at 3:15 PM.  We would love to see a big Fremd crowd!
• Congratulations to the Scholastic Bowl team for winning the Fremd Masonic Sectional on Saturday to advance to the Masonic State tournament in Bloomington Saturday March 3.
• Congratulations to State Award winning wrestlers Cole Reimer - 5th place state medalist (145) and Adam Kemp - 5th place state medalist (160).

The School Safety Edition

A Few Words About School Safety

After a national tragedy like the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, it’s normal--and necessary--for communities to ask, “Is my school safe?” There are 3000 people that walk into Fremd High School every day, and safety is our top priority for each of these people.If students don’t feel safe, they cannot learn. If teachers don’t feel safe, they cannot teach. As principal, I spend a lot of time paying attention to the teaching and learning going on in our school. There are very few topics that will divert my attention away from learning, but safety and security command my full attention every time.

Luckily, Fremd High School is an extremely safe school. In fact, on last year’s Comprehensive School Climate Inventory, “Sense of Physical Safety” received the highest ranking on the report, followed closely by “Safety Rules and Norms,” according to both students and parents’ survey responses. For the 100+ days of school this year before Wednesday’s tragedy in Florida, school safety may not have been as great of a concern as that upcoming test, volleyball game or Debate tournament.

In the last 48 hours, I have spoken with several parents, teachers and students about school safety. A prevailing thought has stuck out to me: While the safety measures we employ at Fremd are quite familiar to me, these measures may be unknown or invisible to most students, parents and staff. So, because information often brings comfort, here are just some of the many safety measures that are taken on a regular basis at Fremd that you might not know about:

• Officer Derek Bahn from the Palatine Police Department is stationed every day during school hours in our school.
• We have a staff of 20 hall monitors who are tasked with supervising our school’s common areas, hallways, and entrances.
• Almost 40 staff members carry walkie talkies, so safety issues can be reported in real time.
• Routine entrance and restroom checks are performed every class period to secure exterior doors and ensure safe behavior in the restrooms.
• There are over 60 surveillance cameras in our hallways, common areas and parking lots.
• In the morning, there are two approved entrances for students to enter. Both are staffed with multiple hall monitors who check student IDs. (All visitors must enter through the main entrance.)
• During the school day, all entrances are locked except the main entrance, which is supervised by at least one person, but often with 3-4 people.
• There is a Safety Concern Form located on the right-hand side of our main website to report anything about student safety. Although the form allows anonymity, please understand that a thorough report with a contact name helps us to answer follow-up questions and fully investigate reports.
• We hold many safety drills each year, including at least two lockdown drills.
• The Palatine Fire and Police Departments are active collaborators in our school safety plans, which are reviewed annually.

Highlights and Successes:

• Congratulations to Coach Kristen Newby and the Boys Swimming and Diving Team on  winning the MSL Varsity Conference Championship.  Individual award winners include:  2nd place medley relay - Evan Stegall, Alex Schillinger, Yoochan Lee, Danny Konishi; 2nd place 200 IM - Alex Schillinger; 5th place 200 IM - James Steininger; 3rd place 50 free - Yoochan Lee; 1st place diving - Zach Mega; 3rd place 100 fly - Yoochan Lee; 5th place 100 fly - Evan Stegall; 3rd place 100 free - Danny Konishi; 4th place 100 free - Yoochan Lee; 1st place 200 free relay - Yoochan Lee, Alex Reed, Derek Warnstedt, Danny Konishi; 1st place 100 backstroke - Evan Stegall; 1st place 100 breaststroke - Alex Schillinger; 6th place 100 breaststroke- Ethan Schillinger and 2nd place 400 free relay - Danny Konishi, Alex Reed, Evan Stegall, Alex Schillinger.
• Congratulations to the following two wrestlers on qualifying for the state meet.  Cole Riemer took second in his weight class and Adam Kemp qualified in 3rd place.  Good luck to both these individuals this weekend!
• Congratulations to the following Girls Gymnastics State Qualifiers:  Abby Moran placed 1st on the balance beam and 3rd on the floor exercise.  Melanie Ng took 3rd place on the balance beam and 5th place on the uneven bars.  Gianna Christodoulopoulos was an at-large qualifier on uneven bars and in the all-around competitions.  Annika Waller qualified on the uneven bars.  Good luck to these ladies in the state meet!
• Congratulations to Coach Kevin Palmer and the Fremd Varsity Scholastic Bowl Team on winning 3rd place at the Illinois NAQT State Tournament.

Upcoming Home Activities and Varsity Events

February 16	Early Dismissal - 11:50 a.m. Boys Track & Field Quad @ Glenbrook S. H.S. - 4:30 p.m. Girls Gymnastics State Meet @ PHS - 6:00 p.m. Boys Basketball @ Barrington H.S. - 7:30 p.m. Boys Wrestling State Meet @ State Farm Center, Champaign
February 17	Boys Swimming & Diving Sectioanl @ Stevenson H.S. - 1:00 p.m. Girls Bymnastics State Finals @ PHS - 6:00 p.m. Boys Wrestling State Meet @ State Farm Center, Champaign
February 19	President’s Day - No School Girls Basketball Sectionals @ FHS - 6:00 p.m.
February 20	Late Start - 8:50 a.m. start time Boys Basketball MSL Crossover @ FHS - 7:30 p.m.
February 21	Boys Basketball MSL Crossover @ FHS - 7:30 p.m.
February 22	Girls Basketball Sectional FInals @ FHS - 7:00 p.m.

For a more complete list, please visit our Athletics Page or the Athletic Department Blog.

Ask the Principal

Are you curious about something at Fremd but have never asked? Email me at ktenopir@d211.org. If your question is pertinent to a wider audience, I will include it in the next blog post.